Zapffe Interlude

Peter Wessel Zapffe

Better Never To Have Mentioned...

Here's some interesting commentary on one blogger's encounter with David Benatar's 'Better Never To Have Been', and the subsequent visceral reactions of those he tried to discuss the book with. Not surprising; once I saw a reviewer actually suggest not opening the book, I knew it would be an uphill battle. Meanwhile, suffering and death continue, unabated.

And this from another article by the same blogger:

I'll tell you what's depressing: that social and psychological urge that compels us to deny our own states of pain and suffering, to pretend in some asinine charade that happiness is the default state of human existence. There is no evidence whatsoever that this is the case. It's the most widespread illogical assumption among contemporary Americans, more pervasive even than the existence of God. Benatar deals with this delusion extensively in one chapter of his book, citing a multitude of psychological studies that suggest the happiest people are those least in touch with the reality of their own lives and prospects.

Video Commentary

I found a couple places featuring my YouTube efforts here and here.

"Any film, even the worst, is better than real life."

Quentin Crisp

David Benatar Radio Interview

To listen, go here. All in all, a very fair interview, I thought. Near the end, the interviewer remarks on the surprising number of emails sympathetic to Benatar's position. This further supports my belief that the inherent logic of the argument strikes a chord with more people than one might imagine, given the sometimes vociferous reactions issuing from the pro-natalist camp. As with religion, I think there are lots of people who passively accept the culturally embedded notion that 'the species must endure', simply because they've never been exposed to a coherent expression of the alternative. But once they hear it, bells go off. Seems promising.

Thanks to Chip for the ref.

No Thanks, Axlotl Tanks

Over at TheViewFromHell, Curator has posted a story about an Italian woman, Eluana Englaro, who's been in a vegetative state for 17 years following a car accident. Her father would like to pull the plug, but after CONSULTING WITH THE VATICAN, the prime minister of that country has seen fit to disallow Eluana's right to die through removal of her artificial feeding apparatus. Here's some of the 'reasoning' behind his decision...

"Justifying his campaign to save Englaro's life, the prime minister added that, physically at least, she was "in the condition to have babies...".

Reading this got me to thinking about the technological side of the transhumanist movement, and about the fact that, while biotechnology seems to be advancing by leaps and bounds, the same can't necessarily be said regarding the moral state of the human animal, by whose hands this technology will be wielded. To tell you the truth, the idea that the state might one day have the ability to prolong my life indefinitely, and against my will, scares the bejesus out of me. And now there's this new little sci-fi twist to add to my nightmares.

I'm terribly afraid that at some point in the not-so-distant future, a window of opportunity is going to close on humankind's chances for extinction; barring, of course, some cataclysmic event, like a comet slamming into the earth. Or a much better scenario- some kind of viral or other sort of natural intercession that renders men and/or women sterile. Or, each of us can simply choose not to play the game of dystopian risk with our progeny. And if all of us did THAT, then there'd be nothing to worry about at all, now would there?

Backtracking

This post is mostly meant as a bookmark for myself as I seek to fine-tune my understanding and expression of the fundamental Benatar asymmetry. Good reading, though.

Interlude

The reasons I love life are the reasons I hate it. The lies within the truths within the Lie.

link

It may be true that a picture speaks a thousand words; and a song, perhaps, even more. But consider all the other words that get left out.